North Macedonia’s Ivana Shekutkoska, selected for European Film Promotion’s Producers on the Move initiative in Cannes, founded Skopje-based Minimal Collective in 2019. Her credits include the award-winning debut feature DJ Ahmet by Georgi M Unkovski, produced by Cinema Futura, which received the Special Jury Award for Creative Vision and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025.

Cineuropa: What’s the story behind Minimal Collective?
Ivana Shekutkoska: I entered producing quite naturally through independent filmmaking and collaborations with directors whose voices I strongly believed in. I began my journey in film at Strymon Film, where I gained my first experience in production. Since I had no formal background in filmmaking when I started, I was given an opportunity and quickly learned through practice that producing means being involved in every aspect of the process. From that point onwards, I learned by doing and remained fully committed. I continued working on a range of projects, including short films, feature films and later documentaries as well. My debut as a producer, together with Ivan Unkovski under Cinema Futura, was DJ Ahmet by Georgi M Unkovski, while in parallel I worked on the feature film Division by Zero by Gjorce Stavreski under Fragment Film, alongside the documentary Ruins by Elena Chemerska and several other projects. All of these experiences shaped me deeply as a producer. I wanted to create a company that could support ambitious films from our region while building meaningful international collaborations. For me, producing is closely connected to long-term collaboration with directors and core creative teams, mutual trust and creating a safe space in which projects can grow organically.

What has your background in economics and marketing taught you about producing in the film industry?
My background in economics and marketing helped me understand producing not only as a creative profession, but also as something that requires strategy, structure and long-term thinking. Coming into film from outside a traditional film school environment, that background gave me confidence in areas that many young producers initially find intimidating: financing structures, budgeting, negotiations and project positioning. At the same time, marketing taught me a great deal about communication and people. Not only how to present a film internationally, but also how to build trust, create meaningful partnerships and understand what makes a project resonate emotionally with others. What I value most is that it taught me how to balance creativity with sustainability. I deeply believe in auteur cinema and emotional storytelling, but I also understand that films need a strong structure and a clear vision in order to survive and travel internationally.

What’s on your table right now?
At the moment, I am working on a mix of projects across different stages of development, production and post-production, which reflects the way I like to gradually build a slate. We are currently preparing for the world premiere of the debut documentary feature Ruins (working title Fatherland: A Monument to Freedom) by Elena Chemerska, as well as Division by Zero by Gjorce Stavreski, which is also planned to premiere this year. On the post-production side, I am working on the short film Certificate of Life by Sandra Gjorgieva and I am a co-producer on the Croatian feature Five Days at Sea by Ivana Škrabalo, which is also in post-production. In pre-production, I am working on All That Remained Was a Story by Lidija Mojsovska, set for shooting this summer. In development, I am a co-producer on Jugoslava by Ivan Bakrač, as well as on The Secret of the Dragon Fellowship by Vanja Hovan, while also developing the short film Silent White by Lidija Mojsovska and the feature The Pot, The Lid and the Nurse by Vardan Tozija. What connects all of these projects are, above all, the filmmakers behind them: strong and distinctive voices alongside a shared focus on emotionally driven, character-led storytelling. I tend to choose projects based on trust in the director’s vision and the possibility of following their work over time, rather than on genre or format.

Is there a specific region or country you would like to co-produce with in the future, and why?
I really cherish the collaborations I have already established and hope to continue working with many of the same partners in the future. Most of them come from the region — Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, as well as the Czech Republic — and these collaborations have taught me a great deal. At the same time, I have always been drawn to strong and diverse co-production combinations. I would love to expand collaborations with countries such as the Scandinavian nations, Germany, France and Spain. Beyond Europe, I am also very interested in Asia, which I find incredibly diverse and creatively inspiring in terms of cinematic language and production approaches. For me, these connections are not just about geography, but about working with producers and creatives who share a certain sensibility while bringing different perspectives and production cultures into the process.

What does Producers on the Move mean to you?
I see Producers on the Move as a valuable space for building relationships with other emerging producers who are more or less at a similar stage in their careers, but coming from different backgrounds. For me, the most important aspect is the possibility to connect with people I can continue working with in the future, not only on one project but across several. I’m also hoping to gain a deeper understanding of different production models across Europe, especially in terms of financing, co-production strategies and how producers navigate international collaborations in practice. Coming from a smaller industry, these exchanges are extremely valuable.